I won’t leave APC with Atiku ― Governor Jubrila Bindow

ADAMAWA state governor, Jubrila Bindow, has dismissed insinuation that he would dump the All Progressive Congress (APC) following in the footsteps of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar considered to be his benefactor.

Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari alongside his Borno state counterpart, Kashim Shettima on Tuesday, he said as a founding member of the ruling party, he intended to stay put in the APC despite Waziri Adamawa’s exit.

But he said he continued to have respect for the former Vice President who he observed was capable of deciding what was good for himself.

Asked about his mission in the villa, he said: “Let me talk about Atiku first before myself. The former vice president is more than matured enough to decide whatever he wants to decide for himself.

“As far as I am concerned, I am one of the founding fathers of APC. When I was in the Senate, we were the ones, alongside the current Senate President that worked very hard to ensure that all members of the National Assembly; that we agreed to move to APC.

“So, I cannot see any reason why, today, that the House I built, that I will leave. So, I am in APC for the rest of my life, period.”

Speaking about his relationship with Atiku, he said: “Not only Waziri, every elder in Adamawa state, as far as I am concerned, I regard them as my parents or elders. So, Waziri remains somebody I respect as a father, and the same with any other elder in the state.”

On his reported support for President Buhari’s second tenure, he said it was true and rationalized it thus: “Yes, I was fortunate enough, very rare opportunity to be the first governor to do that for our president. As far as we, the people of the northeast are concerned, we will remain loyal to our president who is highly committed to the fight against the insurgency. We will remain loyal to our president.”

While insisting that Atiku was equal to the task of taking his political destiny in his hands, Bindow however said Atiku’s exit from the APC would have no negative impact on the party in Adamawa state.

He added: “Well, APC is strong, we have 25 members in the state assembly, 23, in fact, 24 now because one of them have moved to the APC. So, 24 out of 25 members in the House of Assembly are APC.

“The three Senators from the state are APC, even the House of Reps, including Adamu Kamale who recently moved to the APC. So, we are strong and we will continue to be strong.”